Sri Shan: We are good for sixth

28/10/2001

N. SRISHANMUGANATHAN, or better known as Sri Shan, was at the launch ofthe match schedule for the 2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup and he reckons thatMalaysia are good for the sixth spot, but only if they change theirplaying style. Sri Shan skippered malaysia to finish fourth in the 1975 World Cupplayed at the Kilat Ground in Pantai, and has been keenly following theprogress of the Malaysian team. "Malaysia do not have good defenders and in the Azlan Shah Cup inAugust, the world was amazed at how easy it was to score against our boys.It is still not too late to change the playing style of the defenders (S.Kuhan and Maninderjit Singh) to get better results. "It is useless for the forwards to struggle and score one goal but thedefenders allow in a dozen because of their playing style," said Sri Shan. Sri Shan should know because he was a solid fullback in his heyday andaccording to him "It was almost impossible for anyone to beat me from theleft, because I always played low and kept the stick on the ground." From his observations on the team, the current defenders look like theyfear the ball and instead of making a square stand (which is moredifficult to beat), they go rushing in for the ball and are easily beaten. Even then, the former skipper feels the fans will get a chance to seesome world class performances from Malaysia because playing at home,especially in the World Cup and Olympics, brings out the best even inmediocre teams. "If they stop making unnecessary back passes, which cost them dearly inthe Azlan Shah Cup, and think positively as individual leaders and notrely on one or two players to call the shots, they can put up a great showand surprise their sceptics. "I also noticed that we do not have fast runners to stop the oppositionduring penalty corners. And even when they do get to the ball and takepossession, they are normally at a loss on what to do with it. "I suggest they adopt the fast clearance style and not try to hold on tothe ball too long because most of the teams in the World Cup have speedyforwards and one mistake is enough to do the damage," said Sri Shan. "From 1956 to 1975, when hockey was played on grass, the training focuswas 75 per cent on stopping and the rest on accurate passing because itwas very difficult to stop on the bouncy surface. "After 1976, when the artificial pitch was introduced, the trainingfocus shifted towards 75 per cent on passing and the rest on stopping. Butsurprisingly, in Malaysia we have not seen this basic change from playingon grass to the artificial pitch. "We have not innovated any new strokes on the artificial pitch andnothing is being done at the grassroot level to check this. If we failmiserably at the 2002 World Cup, individuals are not to be blamned becausethe structure of hockey in Malaysia is such that they don't stand a chancefrom the onset itself," said Sri Shan. So how come he is looking at the sixth spot? "Malaysia are good for a draw against Australia and India in the groupmatches. It will be enough to finish sixth," the former skipper predicted. Sri Shan scored the all important goal against Holland in thequarterfinals of the 1975 World Cup. The score was 1-1 at regulation timeand during extra time, the skipper scored off a penalty corner to takeMalaysia into the semis for their best ever finish in the World Cup. He has said his piece, and will be watching from the stands as a fan inFebruary next year, hoping feverishly like all other malaysians for thatextra magic to take Malaysian hockey to the next level.
jugjet@nstp.com.my